Dinesh Karthik has been named as the UK’s favourite cricket commentator of 2021, according to social media analysis carried out by Online Betting Group.

The Indian wicketkeeper batter has been a massive hit with UK audiences after first working with Sky during England’s tour of India earlier this year. Karthik then joined up with Sky for the English summer, commentating on the ongoing Test series between England and India as well on the Vitality Blast and Hundred.

Karthik has been a hit with audiences for fashion sense, which saw his colleague Michael Atherton dub him “The Giorgio Armani of broadcasting”. He has also appeared to form a friendship with David ‘Bumble’ Lloyd, with the two often paired together on commentary.

The fact that Karthik is a current player has also had many advantages as it has allowed him to gain additional access to high-profile Indian players who would have spent time with him. This has led to numerous insightful interviews with top players such as Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma and Jasprit Bumrah.

Karthik will be leaving the commentary team after the third Test to gear up for the IPL, in which he plays for the Kolkata Knight Riders.

The ranking of the best commentators was compiled by OLBG who rated every cricket commentator on the basis of the most positive/negative comments they receive on social media. Andrew Strauss came second in this years’ findings as his efforts during the second Test and ‘Red for Ruth’ day at Lord’s were unsurprisingly received very well online. Alex Hartley, who played a pivotal role in BBC’s Hundred coverage and hosts the very popular No Balls Cricket Podcast alongside her Lancashire and Manchester Originals teammate Kate Cross, came third.

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